Sixth Year at Hogwarts
by PrimroseWoodhouseDumbledore
Summary: Oh my goodness, the dramas of sixteen-year-old's lives at Hogwarts! I know it starts off weird, but it gets better! Basically me daydreaming through my fanfic. All in HGPOV.
1. Chapter 1

Fan fiction Chapter One

"Harry!" I squealed, running towards him and throwing my arms around his neck. "I've missed you so much," I murmured as he kissed me.

"It's been such a long holiday," he agreed. "I've even been counting down the hours this summer, instead of the days until school starts again. I just wanted to see you again," he continued as we made our way onto Platform 9 3/4, hand in hand.

I snuggled in closer to him. "I'm glad we all passed our OWLs," I said. "This is going to be such a big year-"

I was interrupted by a mocking yell. "Got yourself a girlfriend, Potter?" Malfoy called spitefully. "Pity you couldn't do any better..."

I just glared at him.

"Never mind," Harry muttered. "We're going to get this all year, seeing as only Ron, Ginny and Neville know we're a couple."

We slid into the usual compartment, and found Ron, Ginny, Luna and Neville already sitting there.

"Why are you holding hands?" asked Luna. "Oh, wow...you guys are going out!?"

I blushed and Harry squeezed my hand. Neville chuckled. Ron and Ginny just waved at us.

We sat down and the morning seemed to fly. We all caught up about what we did on the holidays, until Harry and I found ourselves alone in the compartment. Ginny and Luna had gone to find others from their year, and Ron and Neville were looking for the lunch trolley.

"Congratulations, by the way," I said to him. "On getting Quidditch captain and everything..."

My voice trailed off. Harry kissed me lightly on the cheek. "Thank you," he said and stroked my hair. "I'm so glad we finally got together, Hermione." He said as he leaned in to kiss me again.


	2. Chapter 2

"YES!" I screamed as Harry swooped down on the Golden Snitch. It was the first Quidditch match of the season and Griffindor had just owned Ravenclaw, 270 to 30. Ron had been playing Keeper and every time Luna flew at him with the ball, he would grin maniacally and start flying around as though he'd drunk six cups of coffee. She had no chance of getting the ball in and compared with Griffindor's excellent Chasing, Ravenclaw were no match for us.

I laughed at myself. Since Harry and I had started going out, my knowledge of Quidditch had become nearly as good as my knowledge of Charms. On my left, Hagrid was yelling himself hoarse and on my right, Neville was jumping up and down in excitement. Together we made our way down to the pitch to congratulate the Griffindor team.

Ron seemed stunned at what he'd done, and kept looking over at the Ravenclaw team to see how they were taking it (i.e. not very well). Ginny, Katie and Demelza were over the moon and Harry hugged me tightly, still holding the Snitch. Together, Harry, Ron and I began to walk up to the castle.

We all froze as Luna drifted over. Ron looked as though the caffeine was starting to wear off.

"Hello, Ronald..." Luna said. "That really was an excellent game, you know..."

"Um..." Ron looked as though he was choking.

His face turned red. "OK..."

I began to pull Harry away from the scene. This didn't seem like something Ron would want us to watch.

-----

Later that night in the common room, Harry was sitting by the fire, still holding the Snitch, while I read his latest essay. Neither of us had seen Ron all afternoon and assumed he was still being congratulated by people. I was just about to fall asleep when I heard Ginny yelling.

"So what the hell Ron? We beat Ravenclaw at Quidditch and then you go and ask for a rematch?"

Harry jumped up. "Ron? Are you okay?"

Ron looked like he was about to be sick. He scrambled up the stairs of the boys dormitory. Harry disappeared after him.

"What happened, Ginny?" I asked her. It shocked me that Ron would think their win was unfair or something. It was all pure talent that won it for them. The Griffindor team doesn't cheat.

She shook her head. "I have no idea. Ron disappears for three hours, and then I found him begging Professor McGonagall for a rematch. Its like he's almost guilty for beating them so thoroughly."

I patted her back sympathetically. She still looked tired from playing Quidditch all morning.

"I think I might go to bed," she said. "Goodnight, Hermione."

I watched her go up the stairs of the girls dormitory, thinking I might follow her soon enough, when I felt a tap on my shoulder. Harry was standing there with a frown on his face.

"What's up?" I asked, budging over so he would fit on the chair, next to me.

"I can't believe it," he began. "You know why Ron wanted a rematch? He's into Luna! I really shouldn't tell you, but I know you'll keep the secret. He felt terrible for beating her and wanted to give them another chance. I mean, who wants someone with that sort of attitude on the team?"

"Don't worry," I said, taking his hand. "Professor McGonagall won't allow a rematch, and the next game's against Hufflepuff. And there's nothing wrong with Ron and Luna as a couple otherwise." I giggled at the thought.

"Yeah..." Harry seemed distracted. "I'm going to bed. It's been a long day."

I got up, thinking that I should go to bed as well. "Good work today," I said, kissing him goodnight. "We might win the Quidditch cup if we continue at this rate."

He let go of my hand as we both went up to our respective dormitories, my head spinning.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Some characters in this chapter may be based on real people. I don't own Harry Potter or characters out of J. K. Rowling's books.**

I pulled back my hair and criticised myself in the mirror. It was the morning after Griffindor's win, and as I hadn't washed my hair the night before, it was misbehaving. I shrugged and went down to breakfast. I ate my cereal alone, because most of our year was still sleeping in. As I got up to leave, however, Harry came and sat down beside me.

"Ron refuses to get up," he said. "He's too ashamed about yesterday to consider showing his face. He doesn't think it'll last if he and Luna ever get together and he's annoyed at Ginny for yelling at him."

I sighed. "We should take him for a walk," I said. "We can go down to see Hagrid, that always cheers him up."

Twenty minutes later, the three of us were making our way across the grounds. It had taken a while to convince Ron to get out of bed, and I was pretending that I knew nothing about his crush on Luna. By the time we got to Hagrid's, there was an awkward silence between the three of us. Hagrid opened the door after the first knock, beaming. Any uncomfortable feelings dissipated at the sight of him.

"Hi Harry, Ron and Hermione," he greeted us, barely able to contain his excitement. "Excellent flying yesterday, boys, come with me...I have someone to introduce you to..."

I exchanged a look with Harry. At least this seemed to be distracting Ron, although knowing Hagrid, it was likely to be disastrous.

Hagrid led us into his backyard and around the corner. He walked us around to a part of the grounds I'd never been to before, past the Whomping Willow. We rounded a last corner and saw a small hut standing alone, with smoke coming out the chimney.

Hagrid walked boldly up to the door and knocked three times. Then he stood back and waited. After about ten seconds a tiny man opened the door. His skin was very wrinkled, and he was also extremely short, so he was constantly looking up. He smiled at us and I noticed that he was missing many teeth.

"Anil, this is Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger," Hagrid made the introductions. "This is Anil Karkaroff. He is Igor Karkaroff's son and a very good friend of mine."

Harry looked worried, and so was I. Surely Igor Karkaroff's son was evil and worked for Voldemort?

Hagrid saw our expressions and shook his head. "Anil is not evil," he said. "He is a spy for the Order of the Phoenix. He is living here at Hogwarts for a while to keep an eye on me and Dumbledore."

Anil Karkaroff pointed us inside. His hut was tiny, even smaller than Hagrid's. He grabbed my shoulders and pushed me onto a chair. His hands were knobbly and all his knuckles looked as though they had been broken. He proceeded to drag Harry and Ron into chairs as well, but beckoned Hagrid over to the sofa. His house was very stuffy and smelt like salami.

"So..." Ron said, attempting to break the ice. "Um...how do you know Hagrid, Anil?"

Hagrid chuckled. "Oh, just through this and that," he said. "Anil was in the year below me at Hogwarts, but in Slytherin, of course."

Anil was taking something out of his oven. It turned out to be a dark pink cake, which he put on a plate and began to offer around.

"Yum, Anil...what's this?" Hagrid asked.

"Salami cake!" Anil replied in a voice that could have been a croak. As he said the word "salami", his face lit up, as though it had been lit by a spotlight from the heavens.

We all ate a piece of salami cake just to be polite. It tasted like salami.

Harry looked at his watch. "We really should go back now," he said. "We have all our extra sixth year homework and we've hardly done any this weekend...thank you for the cake."

The three of us bade goodbye to Hagrid and Anil, and proceeded to walk up to the castle.

**This is a pretty lame chapter but I had to have something separating 2 + 4. Also, people, I need characters before I can publish chapter 5. More guys than girls (but still both!!) and preferably in the year above Harry, Ron and Hermione (in case you didn't realise this fanfic is set in their 6****th**** year). So ty, love you and keep reading! =P**


	4. Chapter 4

The three of us were walking back to the common with only homework to look forward to, when Ginny walked up to us.

"Ron – I need to talk to you," she said. "I'm sorry guys, but this is a family thing..."

She dragged Ron off by his forearm. Harry and I shrugged and continued up to the common room. We'd hardly been there ten minutes when Ron stumbled through the portrait hole, followed by Ginny, who looked bewildered.

Ron sat in the armchair next to Harry and put his face in his hands. Then he said, in a voice that I could hardly hear: "She's our cousin."

Harry looked at me, stunned. Was he thinking what I was thinking?

"I'm sorry, Ron, but I thought you said that someone's your cousin. I don't understand why you're so upset..." I said innocently.

"You wouldn't understand!" Ron snapped at me.

"We've just found out," Ginny whispered. "The Lovegoods are our first cousins..." She trailed off when Ron let out a whimper. "He didn't take it very well, I don't know why," she continued more quietly. "But Luna's mother's been dead for years and her father's been found dead with the Dark Mark over their house. Apparently Luna has to live with us now, because Luna's dad appointed our Mum as her guardian."

"But why is that a problem, Ron?" I asked, still feigning confusion. "We're still friends with Luna, right?"

Ron crossed his arms and glared at me.

"Ron," Harry said softly, "maybe you should tell her, she's really confused...you know she won't tell anyone."

"Okay, fine," said Ron. "Hermione...I like Luna. I have since the first week of term. It just keeps getting stronger and I don't know what to do."

Ginny just sat there with her mouth open.

"Run," Harry whispered to her, "before he realises you're still here."

Ginny took off as Ron continued to talk.

"I felt really guilty for beating her in Quidditch, because she always brings out the best in me...but now she's our cousin!" He wailed. "And now it's not even _legal_ to like her!"

He flew up the stairs to the boys' dormitories, obviously not wanting to cry in public.

I sighed and shook my head. Harry put his arms around me.

"Don't worry," he whispered in my ear. "Ron will be fine...it's Luna we need to worry about, I hope she's okay."

I was glad just to be in his arms, after all the extra homework from N.E.W.T.s and finding out about Luna's dad. It was a comforting and warm place to be, and for a moment I forgot about schoolwork and everything else. Harry pulled me into an armchair, and I fell asleep in his arms, with my head on his chest.

**Before you ask, I'm sorry about killing Luna's dad! And still waiting on those characters... (:**


	5. Chapter 5

A few days later, I was still in a daze. We hadn't seen Luna, and we assumed that she was at the funeral. None of us knew when she was going to come back, so it was quite a shock when we walked into breakfast on Tuesday and she was sitting at the Ravenclaw table, distant as ever. It seemed like no one had heard about Xenophilius' death, and all thought Luna had been home visiting an aunt.

Classes passed as usual, and it wasn't until lunch that we got a chance to say hello to her.

Ron hung back as Harry and I hugged her. "One piece of advice, mate," I whispered to him afterwards, "start acting weirdly around her and she'll only suspect something's up." Ron just sulked.

After dinner, Ron and Harry had Quidditch practice, so I found Ginny and asked her if she wanted to go and visit Luna with me.

"Sure," she said. "She could probably do with some company."

We found Luna in a corridor leading up to Ravenclaw Tower. We walked around for a few hours, talking and being mean about Snape and Malfoy (which was very amusing), until it was time for the fifth years to go back to their common rooms. Still having an hour until my curfew, I waved them goodbye and headed down to the Quidditch pitch, intending to watch Harry and Ron finish their practice.

I cut through secret passageways without thinking, my mind preoccupied on non-verbal incantations. Although I had mastered them almost instantly, it still made me nervous to think that I might accidentally say something in the exam. _"Of course you won't!" _Harry and Ron had laughed at me when I told them about my worries. I smiled as I thought of Harry. He was one of my first friends in the wizarding world; and I'd had a tiny crush on him since the day we'd met, now I thought about it. I was glad that it had had a more positive than negative effect on our friendship, though. And I was also glad that Ron had developed a thing for Luna, because I did have suspicions about him liking me for a while. I shuddered. While Ron and I shared a great friendship, I could never imagine being with him the way I am with Harry. I was so busy thinking about Harry that I didn't notice (at first) when I rounded a corner and saw Zacharias Smith with his tongue down Seamus Finnigan's throat.

_Whoa! _I breathed in sharply and took a step backward. _Too much information!_ I so didn't need to see this. I turned around and ran back towards the Griffindor common room, where I sat shaking in an armchair for an hour until Seamus came in with his top button undone. I decided that maybe I should go to bed and try to forget about the disturbing event I'd just witnessed.

'Did you see Seamus last night?' Harry asked me. 'Because when we came to the dormitory, he was lying on his bed. Awake, but not talking to anyone. He was really weird. Do you know what happened?'

I swallowed. I really was trying to forget about Seamus and Zacharias because I really didn't want to know. Luckily, I was interrupted when the two in question walked in the door to the Great Hall holding hands openly and laughing.

The reaction was instant. I don't think Hogwarts has ever had a homosexual couple before, from the things people were yelling at them.

'SHUT UP!!!' screamed Seamus. 'Zac and I are very happy with ourselves and don't care what you think.'

'As a matter or fact...' said Zacharias (_Zac? Ugh.)_ 'Maybe we should move away and adopt kids and stuff, Seamus, like it would be a good idea. Because you know, we can't exactly have kids...'

'Wow, good idea!' Seamus replied. 'But who will we adopt? I know!'

He ran over to the Griffindor table, pulling Zacharias with him by the hand.

'Dennis!' said Seamus. 'Let's adopt Dennis Creevey as our son!'

'Yeah!' said Zacharias. 'We want to adopt you as a son, Dennis Creevey!'

'Do you reckon he's off his head?' Ron asked. 'This isn't normally something that happens, you know...'

'Love can do funny things to people,' Harry replied, looking at me. 'We should go to Transfiguration anyway, come on.'


	6. Chapter 6

Sixth Year was passing in a blur of food, friends and the tiniest bit of schoolwork. The Griffindor Quidditch team was doing extremely well under Harry's captaincy. The October Hogsmeade weekend was cancelled because of Snape's 50th birthday. There was a celebration in the Great Hall but only Slytherins and teachers attended.

As the days flew by, Harry and I were spending more and more time together. We returned to Griffindor Tower late at night, windblown and, as it came closer to Christmas, covered in snow. It was on one of these evenings that we ran into Hagrid on our way back up to the castle.

'Hi, Hagrid,' we said.

'Hi Harry and Hermione! Guess what?' Hagrid replied enthusiastically.

'What?' I asked.

'Well, Professor Dumbledore has decided that the Yule Ball two years ago was such a success that even though there is no Triwizard Tournament this year, Hogwarts will hold a Yule ball of its own!'

'Hagrid?' Professor McGonagall was peering sternly over her glasses at us. 'Professor Dumbledore was not going to disclose that information until tomorrow at dinner!'

'Oops...yeah,' Hagrid said. 'Maybe I should go...' He hurried off.

'Well now, Mr Potter and Miss Granger, I certainly hope you won't go telling anyone about the Yule Ball?' Professor McGonagall asked us.

'Of course not, Professor,' I replied before turning away and dragging Harry down the corridor with me.

'What do you mean?' Harry asked. 'Of course we'll tell Ron, Ginny, Neville and Luna, won't we?'

My first instinct was to be shocked. I would never purposefully go against what a teacher told me! But, as Harry and I walked down the corridor, the list of people who we would tell kept growing longer and longer. I felt a thrill at rebelling; it wasn't something I had ever done very often.

When we told Ginny about the Yule Ball, she was really excited. Ron frowned and stomped out of the room.

As the weeks continued to fly by, Ginny and I ordered our dresses, practiced our hairstyles and tested countless foundations. Ginny had decided not to try finding a partner because she was enjoying living the single life. Dumbledore was getting the Weird Sisters to play again and most people saw it as a good thing that only Hogwarts students would attend.

On the last day of term, Professor McGonagall asked me back after Transfiguration. I kissed Harry on the cheek and skipped to the front of the classroom. Surely, Professor McGonagall was going to praise me on my latest piece of work, or even ask me if I wanted to attempt some seventh year Transfiguration...I was snapped back to Earth with her next words.

'Hermione, I have here your latest essay, which received a mark well below your average,' Professor McGonagall said. 'Although it was still good, I had to give you an Acceptable, because the work was simply not up to your usual standard. Do you have any explanation for this?'

'Umm...' I was lost for words. Of course I had realised that I had been spending less time on study, but... well, there's always a but. I suppose I could blame my relationship with Harry for making my marks drop, but instead, I blamed the N.E.W.T. work.

'I've been finding N.E.W.T.s really difficult, Professor,' I began.

'_And_ I have noticed you have been spending a lot more time with Potter, if you know what I mean,' she continued. 'Which is all very well, but I do not expect your marks to suffer in the process.'

'Yes, Professor,' I said timidly. 'I will definitely try harder in the future.'

'Thank you,' she said. 'You are dismissed.'

As I walked to lunch, I began to notice the differences in myself. Minor differences such as more knowledge of Quidditch (I could hardly believe that I used to have trouble with terms such as Wronski Feint!) and probably being more confident in myself. But there were also more major differences, such as failing to apply myself to schoolwork. Although I loved being with Harry, I seemed to have lost part of myself in the process. I had never been 'timid' around Professor McGonagall before, either.

'Hermione? Are you OK?' Harry was asking. I realised that I had subconsciously sat down at the Griffindor table and started to eat.

'Yeah...' I shook my head to clear it. 'I'm fine, don't worry.'

He smiled. 'Because if Professor McGonagall hurt you, honey, you know I would never let it happen again.'

He stared into my eyes without blinking, and touched my face. His stunning green eyes closed as mine did, and Ron pretended to throw up in the background.


	7. Chapter 7

I was dancing alone, until Harry appeared out of thin air and pulled me into his arms. We spun around together in our own bubble, forever and ever...

-----

My eyes snapped open. I stayed still, remembering the dream, until I realised that today was the Big Day. Christmas Day! I jumped out of bed and wrenched open the wardrobe, checking that my dress and shoes were still where they were the night before. I felt so high, I forgot about presents and ran downstairs to wake up Ginny.

'Ginny! Wake up! It's Christmas!' I cried, shaking her.

'Yeah... morning, Hermione... wait a sec! What are you doing in here at 5:30 AM?' Ginny tried to push me away and then fell back to sleep.

I felt like a six-year-old on Christmas Morning, except that I didn't care about presents. However, once I was back in my own dormitory, I slept until nine, when Ginny woke me up.

'It's a reasonable hour of the morning to open presents, and now you're asleep! What's with your sleeping patterns, girl?' Ginny winked and threw what felt like a Weasley jumper in my direction.

'Thanks, Ginny.' I sat up, suddenly wide awake. 'So are you ready to get this show on the road?'

'Make-up already?' Ginny asked. She laughed. 'Shouldn't we wake up the boys for presents first, and surprise them with our dresses later?'

I got up and stretched. Ginny picked up the pile of presents we had for Harry and Ron. Sure enough, when we reached their dormitory, they were still asleep. Seamus was nowhere to be seen. As Ginny threw gobstones at Ron, I slipped onto Harry's four-poster and kissed him on the cheek.

'Wake up,' I whispered. He opened his eyes and smiled at me, pulling himself up. He put his arms around my neck. I realised that I had never been on his bed with him before, however close our relationship was. I noticed how he slept in only boxers and that his sheets were tangled, as though he had moved around in his sleep. He kissed me for a long time and as we broke apart, he put on his glasses and handed me a small present. Harry held my hand and helped me open the box. Inside was a silver charm bracelet, with various charms such as an _H_, a book and a tiny ladybug.

'Wow,' I said. 'Thank you. It's beautiful.'

Harry didn't say anything, but picked up the charm bracelet and fastened it to my wrist. Then he picked up my hand and smiled. I put my other hand on his bare chest, but he lifted it off and held it as well. 'Do you want to see where the others are at?' he asked, and opened the hangings of his bed.

Everyone exchanged presents, and Neville and Dean woke up and joined in. Harry had his hand on my knee the whole time. I had been up early after all, so when I got tired I laid down and put my head on his pillow.

As Ron and Neville tried to see who could fit more chocolate frogs in his mouth at once (which is harder than it sounds, because the frogs keep trying to jump out), Harry laid down next to me.

Instantly, Dean called out: 'Breakfast?'

Everyone nodded, so Ginny and I went back to our dormitories to get out of our pyjamas.

-----

I was on edge for the whole morning; all through breakfast and the games of exploding snap in the common room, I just couldn't sit still. I could barely eat lunch due to my excitement. Ginny checked her watch.

'Okay, Hermione,' she laughed. 'I guess we can start get ready now.'

Parvati and Lavender had already taken over our dormitory, so I took my dress, shoes and make-up very carefully down to Ginny's, which was uninhabited because the other fifth year girls were having snowball fights.

First, we tried on our dresses, to make sure that they still fitted fine. Secondly, we changed back into our trackies and got to work.

I sat Ginny down and brushed through her long, thick hair. I separated the two front sections, braided them, then ran my fingers up and down the braids to make them look messy. Finished with hairspray, and that was Ginny's simple hairstyle done in twenty minutes. Next was my more complicated hair. I wanted retro curls, with my fringe pinned back. Ginny used her wand to set the curls before pinning them up, but it still took a while to get them just right. We had to thicken my hair and make it less frizzy.

When that was perfect, I began on Ginny's make-up. We'd agreed not to tell the other what we were doing, but to go all-out on make-up. I smoothed on the primer and foundation, and started to work on her eyes. I did a navy smoky eye, with really thick black lashes. I was careful not to mix up the three shades of powder, as I'd done at the last Yule Ball. Nude lips, to contrast with her dark eyes, and a tiny bit of blush, blended to her temples, completed the look. She wasn't allowed to see herself until the end, so I sat down and closed my eyes while she set to work on my make-up. I felt the brushes glide over my face, and the sticky eyeliner on my eyes. I nearly fell asleep, but was jolted awake when Ginny began to pluck my eyebrows.

'Oi!' I said. 'That hurt!'

She laughed. 'I'm finished now, anyway. We just need to eat and then do our nails and dresses.'

It was already six o'clock! We ate sandwiches, careful not to smudge our make-up. Then we painted our nails (Ginny's were red and mine were dark silver). And after that, it was finally time to put on our dresses! I helped Ginny slip the strapless over her head, and stood still while she zipped up the back of mine. We put on our shoes and turned to Romilda Vane's full-length mirror.

Ginny stood there, her hair long and almost reflective, in the navy blue strapless with a thick black belt. Her make-up matched perfectly, and her red patent flats highlighted the length of her legs. Next to her was me, with my ringlets freshly unpinned and shiny, in a long, silk, turquoise dress, with shoestring straps and sequins. Ginny had done my make-up just right, so that it looked good but not too over-the-top. She laughed and grabbed my hand.

'Come on!' She said. 'It's already time to meet Harry downstairs!'

I felt a jolt of excitement already. We headed down to the common room, where Harry was waiting for me. Ginny walked out of the portrait hole, leaving Harry and I nearly alone in the common room. He kissed me on the cheek and put his arm around my waist. The, he led me through the corridors of Hogwarts and into the Great Hall, where the Yule Ball was just starting. He took my hand.

'Shall we dance?'


	8. Chapter 8

I put my hand on Harry's shoulder and let him lead me onto the dance floor. The Yule Ball was already packed with Hogwarts students, dancing, socialising. It was just like the dream; we seemed to dance forever but never get bored. It made me think, again, about how Harry and I had got together. I remembered the weeks of awkwardness, when we both knew of each other's feelings but didn't know how to make an official move. And then, our first kiss, two days before the end of term. The O.W.L. examinations had finished, and I was in a corner of the common room, stressing as usual. Harry had walked away from the party and sat down next to me, and then just kissed me. And after that, we had to spend the summer apart. We'd written to each other, but it just wasn't the same as being together.

...The clock struck midnight. Instantly, Professor McGonagall's voice echoed throughout the castle, telling us that the Yule Ball was over and we all needed to go back to our common rooms. The tone in her voice indicated that she knew nothing of the sort was going to happen.

'The party will be continuing in house common rooms, come on,' Harry said, pulling me off the floor by the waist. I spun around, under his arm and into him, one more time, and let myself be led out of the Great Hall.

In the common room, the party was as big as ever, except it was more like a disco than a traditional dance. Harry and I easily adapted our dancing style. After ten minutes we seemed to be closer to the boys' staircase than we were before, when Ron stomped up to Harry.

'YOU!' He said, pointing at Harry.

'Hi, Ron,' Harry said in a carefree manner, although I could tell that inside he was confused and hurt at Ron's unexpected behaviour.

Ron grabbed Harry's collar. 'I'm sick of it!' He yelled, though the music was so loud that it didn't disturb many people. 'Ever since first year, we've been best friends, and I never would have thought you'd do something like this to me!'

I tried to push Ron away, but Harry stopped me.

'You don't need to see this, babydoll,' He whispered in my ear. 'Wait for me...upstairs, okay?' He then kissed me, telling me through his actions that he wouldn't leave me alone for too long, and that we definitely would be continuing from where we left off. I began to walk upstairs, hearing bits of what Ron was screaming at Harry, and his replies.

The sixth year boys' dormitories were deserted, so I slipped off my shoes and laid down on Harry's bed, for the second time that day. Then I decided that lying down was too suggestive, so I sat up again. I sat there for a while, thinking once more about how Harry and I were meant to be together.

The door opened. I sighed in relief when Harry entered and walked over to me. He sat down and put his hand on my knee. Then he kissed me again, but it was like an ending to the night, rather than the passionate beginning that I'd imagined. When the kiss ended, he kissed me again once, with his mouth closed.

'I really like you, Hermione,' he said. I leaned into him, letting my curls touch his face, and putting my hand on his back. He hugged me back, and I felt him sigh into my hair. Then he took his arms away and lifted me off him. I noticed that his eyes had tears in them, which was unexpected. I had only ever seen Harry cry when something really bad happened, like Sirius' death.

'I'm sorry,' he said. 'We can't do this. I have to end it now, because it's ruining my friendship with Ron, and you marks, which are really important because they make you who you are. It's over, Hermione. Goodbye.'

Hang on a second! This wasn't supposed to happen… I barely remembered leaving Harry's dormitory, or how I got back through the party to my own bed. I hardly registered his expression as he sat and watched me go. Maybe he wasn't looking at me, because he couldn't bare it, or didn't even care. I couldn't imagine him not caring about me. It didn't fit, like loud and soft sounds didn't work together.

My chest hurt. At first I thought I was having a heart attack. In fact, I probably was. I fell onto my four-poster, as my silken dress became stained with tears.


	9. Chapter 9

It was the day after Boxing Day. To be honest, I hadn't bothered to change out of my dress, nor remove my make-up. However, the tears had done a lot of that for me. Ginny and hadn't thought I would need waterproof make-up. I didn't want to go back to the common room, and hadn't planned to go down until I needed to start attending classes. It was the Christmas holidays, after all. I could just imagine Harry and Ron, best friends again, playing chess as they normally would. The thought sent me to tears again, into my already wet pillow. How could he have had a change of heart so quickly? I'd racked my brain again and again, but still hadn't found any lead-up to what had happened. Out relationship had been as fairytale as ever, until Ron had confronted him. That was the only turning point I could find, but could anything Ron had said really make Harry want to end it with me? I'd heard that a guy's friends were really important to them, but this seemed too extreme. I was sure that they'd have forgotten all about me, and I convinced myself that I wasn't interested in seeing either of them.

But I should have known that, as such a practical person, I would eventually want to find out for myself what was going on.

My eyes were screwed tight shut as I descended the stairs, what Harry would think when he saw me, I had no idea... They finally flipped open, of their own accord, it seemed.

I took in the quiet common room, looking for the messy black hair I loved so much, but at the same time not wanting to see it. There were only five people in the common room, this still being the Christmas holidays. Three second-year girls were gossiping in a corner, Cormac McLaggen was writing a letter in front of the fire. I glared at him, remembering how much trouble he had caused Harry, but diverted my eyes when I remembered that I was single. The fifth person in the common room, hidden so that I almost didn't see him, was in a high-backed armchair, the same one which Neville had hidden in the night we found Fluffy. He was staring morosely at the floor, and shot me a look so dirty I would never have imagined receiving it from someone who was once such a good friend.

When Ron Weasley looked me in the eyes, I realised exactly what I, and I alone, had done to such a strong friendship.

My own stupidity had torn us apart. As I collapsed into an armchair, the past five years of my life - our lives - flashed through my head. As the tears came on, I realised that our friendship was too important to just throw away. I had to do something. I also realised that if I wanted to keep our bonds as they should be, Harry and I could never be more than friends.

If he would ever speak to me again, that is.

Part of me wanted to track Harry down, but if he was not going to look at me, I would pretend that he didn't exist either. So, with my jaw set, I packed my satchel for the first day of term. Of course, he was in most of my classes.

'Who cares?' I thought. He doesn't exist. We were never more than friends. In fact, he is as much a stranger to me as that first-year Ravenclaw across the Great Hall, the one being disgusting with his breakfast.

I sighed and put down my fork. I couldn't eat. 'Here goes nothing,' I thought, as I set out for the first class of that eventful term.


	10. Chapter 10

As I stepped into Charms, I tried to appear dignified; a hard thing to do when one has spent the greater part of the last two months crying in bed. I sat with Parvati and Lavender, but didn't talk. I noticed that Ron was sitting with Neville, and Harry was sitting alone on the end of the front row. He kept his eyes on his books, just like me. From the way we were behaving, no one would know that anything had happened between us, and that was the way I wanted it to stay.

Nevertheless, although I was doing what I was most comfortable with (schoolwork), I couldn't concentrate for the whole class. I half wanted to look at Harry, but the other half of me pulled my eyes back to the table. It was one of the worst classes I ever remember being in at Hogwarts, and I partly considered skipping the next lesson. I decided to go when I remembered it was Arithmancy. I thought it would be okay, as neither Harry or Ron was in that class with me. Even still, it was hard to bear. At recess, I stumbled out into the snowy courtyard, and ran right into Ginny.

'Hermione?' She said in surprise, as I tumbled into her arms. She didn't say anything else, just hugged me back. Despite my terrible morning, I found refuge in a friend's hug. Ginny gave me strength, and if it had not been for her, I may not have been able to go back to class at all. I'd forgotten the pact I had made with myself – to leave my relationship with Harry in the past. I had thought it would be easy, that things would just go back to how they were before. When the bell rang, Ginny reminded me that it would be hard to move on. We both knew I would have to go to the next class, as it was Defence Against the Dark Arts, and Snape would not be happy at all if I was absent.

* * *

I walked into the class with my head held high and my insecurities locked inside my chest. Snape took one glance at me and his face twisted into a malicious grin, but before I could take a second glance it had disappeared. There was something in those eyes I didn't like, something that said he knew too much.

'Sit!' He snarled, as the class scrambled to find seats, as quietly as possible. 'Today…' he began uncertainly. 'Yes, today we will be going over our non-verbal incantations in pairs. …No, _my_ pairs,' he added as Parvati grabbed Lavender's hand. Snape's eyes rested on me, as I caught another glimpse of that wicked sneer. He walked around the class, picking out pairs as he went.

'Patil, Bulstrode … Malfoy, Nott, that's fine … Longbottom, Thomas … Weasley, Finnegan … Brown, Crabbe …' He continued in this manner with the whole class, and finished triumphantly with, 'Potter, Granger.'

_Of course! I thought. Of course Snape knew everything.__ He was doing this on purpose, probably to put me off, and then he'd have an excuse to fail me._

However, I wasn't put off. Harry wouldn't distract me. I knew I could use non-verbal incantations better than he could, and followed him, in a dangerous state of confidence, to the corner of the room which Snape had set for us.

Harry turned around with his wand out, ready to start practising. Our eyes met. I barely had time to register that it was the first eye contact we'd had since he broke up with me, and then I was spinning, lost in his eyes. Harry's emerald eyes sucked me in, spun me around, and then flung me out again, like a wet cloth left on the floor. He'd broken the connection, and his eyes were averted to the ceiling. He obviously wanted to look at me as much as I wanted to run and hide in a corner.

I hardly remember any detail of the rest of that class, or the day that followed. I must have managed, as I didn't get any detentions, not even from Snape. I ate my lunch alone, and sat by myself in the afternoon's class again. Professor McGonagall looked impressed to see my head in my books, but would have been less than happy if she saw what was written there (or not written). The only thing I remember about the day was feeling the electricity between Harry and I, and knowing that he felt it too. Knowing that there was nothing we could do to avoid it. Knowing that my pact was useless. We were meant to be together.

Although I knew these things more than I'd ever known anything else, I still couldn't bear it. At the end of the day, I tumbled into bed, and cried myself to sleep.

* * *

The first few weeks of term passed in nearly the same way as the first day. Harry didn't look at me, and I pretended that I didn't want to look at him. I did my work, but not very well. I lived in a bubble, but even through the bubble, I noticed something which surprised me. I had expected Harry and Ron to be best friends again, as that was one of the reasons Harry dumped me. But I hardly ever saw them together. Ron was usually with Neville or Dean, and Harry was always alone. But although I noticed, I didn't do anything. What could I do?


	11. Chapter 11

"Hermione?" came the tentative voice from behind me.

Looking back, I don't even remember thinking about what I was doing. I knew the voice, and why would I ever turn around for _that_ voice? Despite everything, I did the stupidest thing I could ever have done at that moment in time. I turned around.

* * *

I'd be standing here with tears running down my face, but I have no more tears to cry. I used them all up.

For the past few weeks, I'd hovered, getting perfect marks in all my subjects, as that was the only thing I had to think about. No relationships, no social life. Ginny had started dating Neville, and they belonged together in the way that only close friends can. Gradually, I'd made myself immune to what I was feeling, to the need for love and for people to talk to. Even so, a part of me still missed the wholeness of having people around me, and most of all, the intoxicating relationship that Harry and I had shared.

Now, as I stand here in the cold, I am taken over by invisible tears.

* * *

"Hermione?" Ron had asked quietly.

Not knowing that this response was only to my detriment, I turned at the sound of his voice. If I had have known what I was doing, I would have stopped myself, but I smiled at the fact that someone would direct his attention at me, after so long of being alone. I noticed how nervous he was, and was barely reminded of how long it was since we'd had a proper conversation. I looked him up and down, taking in his figure, his face and his clothes. I raised my eyebrows in questioning, encouraging him to go on.

As he fell into step with me, I watched him. It was late at night; I was headed back towards the Griffindor common room after studying in the library. My friend (how could I have started thinking of him as a friend again so quickly?) watched me as well, and eventually he spoke up again.

"Look, I've noticed you everywhere recently," he began. "Hermione, you are so dedicated, so precise, so gifted and so beautiful."

I stiffened, but said nothing. I blinked back tears of sorrow, and made my second mistake of the day. I stayed by his side, walking close together down icy cold Hogwarts corridors late at night.

He stopped in the deserted corridor and took my hand, bringing me to a halt as well.

"Would you like to come to Hogsmeade with me on Valentine's Day?" He asked sincerely.

I looked away, and sighed. Ron seemed to make his own conclusions as to my answer, putting his arms around me and his finger on the side of my face so I'd turn back to look at him.

"Ron – no, I can't!" I pulled away, probably rougher than I should have.

Shaking my head, freezing cold tears pouring from my eyes, I left Ron standing alone in the corridor.

* * *

Days had passed. I stood in the main street of Hogsmeade and had a perfect view of the couples making their way into Madame Puddifoots. They paraded by, oblivious to the lone figure standing just out of sight.

I was contemplating the fact that one of those girls could be me, when I saw a figure walk up and look in the window of the coffee shop. Eventually, he slumped down in the snow against the wall, and covered his face with his hands. Even through the sleet, and through my heavy winter clothes, I could tell who he was. There was no way that I would not be able to recognise the way that he moved, the way he held himself.

I looked at Harry for what could have been seconds, but could also have been much longer. Through his body language, I saw remorse, despair and the reflections of my very own feelings of helplessness, the feeling that the world was over, and ultimately the feeling that something was missing. That was the point at which I would have started to cry, and I probably was on the inside, but the tears just didn't come.

I knew that it was up to me, at this point in time. I was at a crossroads and could choose the exact direction in which I wanted to go. The feeling of being in control was what overwhelmed me; I barely had time to marvel at this remarkable turning point before I was there, in front of him, saying his name.

At the sound of my voice, Harry looked up. The next thing I knew, his arms were around me, unravelling the warm scarf that covered my head.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

I kissed him with heartfelt enthusiasm, taking off his beanie to run my fingers through his hair. He knew he was forgiven. With that, we made our way back up to the castle, his arm around me the whole time.

* * *

It was the perfect Valentine's Day. I discovered that I needed no fancy coffee shop, no red roses; all I needed was Harry. I told him so as we sat together in the common room, covered in snow.

"It was terrible on my own," he replied. "Ron was still so angry that he wouldn't talk to me, and I was afraid to make things up with you because I didn't want you to think that I would only love you when I felt like it."

The mention of Ron made me feel guilty. I didn't want him to become jealous and spread twisted rumours, so I told Harry all of what had happened.

"I don't know how I coped without you," I continued softly. I was stroking his hair; I missed its texture and how it wouldn't lie flat. "I don't feel like leaving your side now, Harry. You keep my world turning. What would I ever do if you found someone else?"

I moved my hand down his face, and touched his neck. Harry kissed me again, reciprocating what I had just told him. It was so atypical for me to tell people how I honestly felt, but with Harry it felt like second nature.

We sat there until late into the night, half ignoring and half enjoying the stares of other Griffindors as they came through the common room.

As the day continued to draw to a close, Harry and I fell asleep in a corner of the common room, wrapped around each other – each of us feeling safety in the knowledge that the only one we wanted was by our side, and planning to stay there.


End file.
